Can we talk about life after levels?

I am very confused about this. My school has abandoned 4A/5C etc when dealing with parents and is now just telling them if their child is below, on or above average but we are still using levels on our internal data so we "know where the pupils are at and who needs intervention etc" For the pupils, we have devised a new set of criteria based on words rather than numbers but that can be linked to the new GCSE 1-9 gradings. Other schools I have worked in or had contact with seem to be doing variations on the old levels but calling them something different.

Why did the government, then, tell us to abandon the old national system if we are all going to just have our own school-based systems? Isn't that just more work for all of us? And how will parents understand this? And how will Ofsted know how to judge our progress?

Just wondered what is happening in your school. And if any of us understand why?